The forecast was made in a new report entitled ‘WA & NT- Bounty or Bounded? A Vision of Australia’s Gas Supply to 2020,’ which says Australia, will play a key role in supplying gas to the Asia Pacific and the US west coast with up to two thirds of local gas production being directed to gas processing and export industries.

According to the study the development of synthetic fuels converted from natural gas could also offset the decline in the nation’s oil production by up to 160,000bpd.

Both the WA and NT governments participated in the study as they continue to juggle the benefits of a strong export industry with the need for a secure domestic supply to underpin economic growth.

While the report may bring a smile to the NWS producers, delivery of supply still remains a crucial problem domestically. Wood Mackenzie released another report several weeks ago that claimed a transcontinental pipeline linking the west's massive gas fields with the lucrative markets in the east will be necessary by 2015.

The only solution to the south east’s supply/demand problem would be imported gas from either Western Australia or the Northern Territory, leading to Moomba becoming a major transmission hub as its role as a production hub declines.

Additionally, construction on a trans-continental pipeline could take five years, which means that governments would need to give serious consideration to starting work on such a project in the next 2-5 years to ensure the infrastructure is online by 2015.